Whole Wheat Pretzel Dogs

Homemade Whole Wheat Pretzel dogs make this fun meal very kid-friendly. Make them small bites for an appetizer or large for a meal-on-the-go!

People assume that because I cook and have a blog about family friendly recipes that I cook with my children all the time. Um, no, I don’t. During the school year they get home around 4pm and it’s homework time and scouts and other activities that keep the five of us busy. Dinner is usually already made or getting made while they work. They do help clear the table, set the table, and bring dirty dishes to the sink. But, when it comes to the weekend and holidays, I recruit their help with the baking and prepping, like they helped with these Whole Wheat Pretzel Dogs.

This is a fun lunch/dinner-on-the-go for my family. Every summer, my boys have their Twilight Camp for scouts and a sack dinner is needed to be packed and ready to go. My kids have the envious meals, as you can imagine. I can’t justify a cold sandwich for dinner like I can for lunch!

The kids love working with dough, whether it’s for bread, pizza or pretzels. And since this week’s #SundaySupper theme is Kids in the Kitchen, I knew these Whole Wheat Pretzel Dogs would be a perfect fit!

The dough is mixed in the stand mixer with the hook attachment. Why this is so much fun to watch for kids, like the washing machine, I just don’t know.

Then you place the dough in a lightly greased bowl and covered to double in size. This I totally understand the kids’ amazement. I am always fascinated (and frankly, relieved) that I didn’t kill the yeast and that the dough doubled in size!

Now comes the fun part, ESPECIALLY for the kids. I used those giant Hebrew National Quarter Pound Hot Dogs for these Whole Wheat Pretzel Dogs, so the dough was divided into 8 equal parts.

Then you roll 8 24-inch dough ropes to wrap around your giant dogs.

Boil the dough-wrapped dogs in boiling water spiked with lots of baking soda to give it a nice crust in the oven. Drip dry the wet dogs, place on your baking sheet, brush on an egg wash, sprinkle with salt AND bake in a very hot 450ºF oven for about 15 minutes.

These Whole Wheat Pretzel Dogs are a bit darker in color than their all white flour counterparts, but the kids even notice. I kept the flour mixture half whole wheat and half white, but I will keep pushing the whole wheat envelope to eventually develop one that is 100% whole wheat.

Whole Wheat Pretzel Dogs

Author:

Laura Bashar

This fun meal is very kid-friendly. Make them small bites for an appetizer or whole for a meal-on-the-go! Recipe adapted from Alton Brown

Ingredients:

11 1/2 cup water, warm

1 TBS granulated sugar

2 tsp kosher salt

2 1/4 tsp active dry yeast

2 1/4 cup all-purpose flour

2 1/4 cup whole wheat flour

2 TBS butter, unsalted, melted & cooled

2/3 cup baking soda

8 1/4-lb hot dogs

1 egg, large

1 TBS water

1 TBS kosher salt

Directions:

Combine in the bowl of a stand mixer with the hook attachment:

1 1/2 cup water , warm

1 TBS granulated sugar

2 tsp kosher salt

Sprinkle over the water and let sit for 5 minutes, until foamy:

2 1/4 tsp active dry yeast

Add in:

2 1/4 cup all-purpose flour

2 1/4 cup whole wheat flour

2 TBS butter, unsalted , melted & cooled

Mix on low speed until combined, then increase speed to medium and mix until the dough is smooth and pulls away from the sides of the bowl, about 5 minutes.

Coat a large bowl with non-stick spray or vegetable oil and place dough ball into the greased bowl.

Cover bowl with plastic wrap and let it sit in a warm place for approximately 1 hour, or until the dough has doubled in size.

Preheat oven to 450ºF.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or silicone baking mat and set aside.

Combine in a large pot over high heat and bring to a rolling boil:

10 cup water

2/3 cup baking soda

In the meanwhile, place dough on a lightly greased work surface and divide into 8 equal pieces.

Roll each piece of dough into a long rope, about 24-inches long.

Wrap each rope piece around:

8 1/4-lb hot dogs

Tuck the ends of each rope into the folds and place the dough wrapped dogs on the prepared baking sheet, seam side down.

Boil the pretzel dogs in the hot baking soda water for 30 seconds each.

Use a slotted spatula to remove from the pot and place on a cooling rack to allow excess water to drip off.

Return boiled pretzel dogs to the prepared baking sheet.

In a small bowl, whisk together:

1 egg, large

1 TBS water

Brush each boiled pretzel dog with egg wash and sprinkle with:

1 TBS kosher salt

Bake until browned, about 13-15 minutes.

Allow pretzel dogs to cool on a cooling rack for 5-10 minutes before serving.

Notes:

Serving Suggestions: Serve with a variety of mustards, ketchup, melted cheese or other favorite dipping sauces.

Cooking Tips: These make 16 using regular bun-length hot dogs, or 8 using the larger 1/4-lb hot dogs (pictured above). You can also cut them up to make smaller bite-size treats.

They look so neat and perfect and what a special dish for the kids to help prepare. I saw on TV recently that another way to get a good crust on bread is to throw some ice cubes onto a second tray in the oven. The steam crisps up the bread apparently. I haven’t tried it yet though.

These dogs look amazing! I guess the boiling with baking soda trick works really well. I never heard about it, but now I can’t wait to try. I also love watching the dough in the stand mixer, so I completely understand your kids :-). And seeing those little precious hands working with the dough is also very sweet!

LOVE the idea of the pretzel dog. When we first went to make them, the dough was almost soupy. After referring to the link to Alton Brown, I noticed that your listed flour amounts were 2 cups under what he used.

It did work the following time when we increased the flour. Is that a typo or did the limited flour really work for you? Ours was way too soupy to knead, let alone roll out. Figured I would mention it in case it was an error.